US President Biden calls suspected Chinese spy balloon 'not a major breach'

United States President Joe Biden, who has been facing criticism from some lawmakers, on Thursday said that according to him the suspected Chinese spy balloon, which was seen flying in the skies of the US before being shot down in the Atlantic Ocean, was not a major security breach.

Biden, who has tried to maintain good communications with China and keep the tensions with Beijing under control, in a Noticias Telemundo interview said that he has no regrets about not shooting down the Chinese balloon sooner.

"It's not a major breach. I mean, look, it's totally … it's a violation of international law. It's our airspace. And once it comes into our space, we can do what we want with it," said Biden.

He stated that the US military officials were concerned if the balloon is shot down over land, the deflated balloon and its parts can fall into a populated area.

"This thing was gigantic. What happened if it came down and hit a school in a rural area? What happened if it came down? So I told them as soon as they could shoot it down, shoot it down. They made a wise decision. They shot it down over the water, they're recovering most of the parts, and they're good," Biden said.

On February 2, Biden ordered to shoot the balloon after it crossed into the northwestern United States but acquiesced to the request of the US military to not take any step till it was over water.

A US fighter jet shot down the 200-foot-tall (61-meter) balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4. Efforts are being made by the US military to recover the parts of the balloon.

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However, some Democrats and Republicans slammed Biden for not shooting down the balloon as soon as it was spotted.

The officials had first detected the high-altitude surveillance balloon over Alaska on January 28.

(With inputs from agencies)

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